Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-May-2018 i Shooting Times & Country

Last weekend I was in Norfolk, staying with my girlfriend. After lunch on Saturday, following a tip-off, we headed across the village to a farm that was reportedly covered in birds. In the interests of positive PR, my girlfriend knocked on the door of the farmhouse, which is let for holidays, and explained that we were going to shoot some pigeons in the field behind and hoped that was OK. “Clays, I assume?” a bemused holidaymaker responded. “Real ones,” my girlfriend replied apologetically. The woman at the door stood in silence. “You’re not a vegetarian or something are you?” I asked. “Yes, actually,” came the reply and the door was closed. It is not how any of us want such an exchange to go and, as I grabbed my kit…

Inspired by the beautiful frontispieces published by our friends on Country Life, Shooting Times published our first “Dog of the Week” in November last year. It was an instant hit and we have been inundated with pictures of dogs ever since. Now Orvis — which was founded in Vermont in 1856 to sell hunting, shooting and fishing gear — has decided to join in by sponsoring Dog of the Week. Readers who would like their dogs to be considered for the page should send a good-quality portrait photograph of the hound to steditorials@timeinc.com . Images will need to be 1.5megabytes — no blurry smartphone snaps please — and show the dog’s face. Shooting Times has no favourites; every breed from terriers to lurchers, retrievers to scent hounds will be considered.…

7-9 JUNE ROYAL CORNWALL SHOW Whitecross, Wadebridge www.royalcornwallshow.org 8 JUNE PROPERTY GUN & PUNT CLUB ANNUAL SHOOT Holland & Holland Shooting Ground Tel 07815 608232 29 JUNE- 1 JULY GWCT SCOTTISH GAME FAIR Scone Palace, Perth Tel 01738 554826 www.scottishfair.com 29 JUNE GWCT FERRET RACING Albury, Herts Tel 07801 042093 www.gwct.org.uk 11-12 AUGUST THE LOWTHER SHOW Lowther Castle, Penrith, Cumbria www.lowthershow.co.uk 18-19 AUGUST GALLOWAY COUNTRY FAIR Drumlanrig Castle, Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway www.gallowaycountryfair.co.uk…

Win tickets to the Game Fair 2018 Shooting Times has teamed up with the Game Fair to give away five pairs of adult tickets (worth £68 per pair) to one day of the event. To enter, simply answer the following question: Which anniversary does the Game Fair celebrate this year? (a) Ruby (b) Diamond (c) Gold. Go to www.shootinguk.co.uk/competitions to enter. Terms and conditions apply. See website for details. Entries close on 6 July. Good luck! The Game Fair runs from Friday, 27 July to Sunday, 29 July, at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire. Now in its 60th year, it is the largest annual outdoor countryside-themed event in the world, attracting up to 120,000 visitors across three days. British Game Alliance launched Last week saw the launch of the British Game…

This winter I had an experience that reflects badly on the people who deal in shooting breaks and our sport as a whole. Three friends and I had booked a little break to shoot geese and other inland wildfowl in North Wales. After being put back from the original booking due to poor geese numbers, we were eventually scheduled to have our day’s shooting, plus a morning flight the next day, in January. However, when I phoned just before our trip to check that everything was OK, I was told that I had got the dates wrong and that another party was booked in for those dates. I had gone to a lot of trouble to organise the group and book a hotel, so I was upset to say the…

Last week I wrote about what I regard as being the maximum responsible hunting range for sub-12ft/ lb air rifles, concluding that, in my opinion, shooters who wish to target live quarry have a duty to work within their own limitations, rather than getting too hung up on what their gun may or may not be capable of at the outer limits of its performance ( View to a (clean) kill , 23 May). When set up properly, legal-limit air rifles are extremely accurate tools, and that precision can more than compensate for their modest power when coupled with a sound knowledge of fieldcraft. Get in close and shoot with precision, and delivering a lethal strike to the small kill zones presented by typical airgun quarry soon becomes pretty straightforward.…

BILL HARRIMAN BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns MAT MANNING Airgunner and journalist from the West Country BRUCE POTTS Shooting Times rifle reviewer and stalker DAVID TOMLINSON Highly regarded writer and ornithologist LIAM BELL NGO chairman, Shropshire gamekeeper and keen wildfowler GRAHAM DOWNING Shooting consultant and sporting author PAUL RAWLINGS Gundog expert and A-panel spaniel judge CHRIS DE CANI Riverkeeper, with specialist knowledge of chalkstreams TONY BUCKWELL Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs TONY JACKSON A game Shot, keen stalker and former editor of Shooting Times TOM PAYNE Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter SIMON WHITEHEAD Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller IAIN WATSON Keen stalker and senior CIC international trophy judge Contact the team Email: stanswers@timeinc.com By post: Shooting Times,…

“We need to get game on the shelves at a reasonable price and to show people how to cook it” With an increasing interest in healthier eating and the avoidance of processed foods, a more informed public is on the lookout for affordable, nutritious meal options. Against this background — and the results of an independent poll that shows the majority of the public is not averse to eating it — there is a golden opportunity to promote more game. The poll, commissioned by the Countryside Alliance, threw up some interesting results. Though 85 per cent of people said they had never bought partridge or pheasant to cook at home, when asked for three reasons why, only 14 per cent of the group said it was because they opposed game…

ATTEND Support GWCT woodcock research by booking a place on a tour of the royal gardens at Highgrove. The event, which also includes a sporting dinner and auction, takes place on Friday, 31 August 2018, by kind permission of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. To book contact Josephine Langer at the GWCT on jlanger@gwct.org.uk. REPORT Farmers, land managers and gamekeepers who took part in the Partridge Count Scheme this spring should return their counts to the GWCT. The scheme offers key insights into the status of wild grey partridges regionally and nationally, including how well they breed, survive and benefit from habitat and management. Visit po.st/ partridgecount for more information. WRITE By popular demand, we are bringing back our monthly reader’s story. If you have…

An 11-year-old schoolgirl who first picked up a shotgun just two months ago has won a gold medal at the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) Clay Pigeon Tournament, held at the West London Shooting School on 4 May. Bethany Norton, a pupil at Duncombe School in Hertford, said she had set herself a target simply to “not come last”. After a morning of shooting across five clay disciplines, she was delighted to be named the under-11s female champion, and amazed to learn her score was higher than the champion in the age category above, as well as beating “many of the boys”. The promising young Gun commented: “After watching shooting at the Olympic and Commonwealth games I noticed it was a sport that England does well at. I also…

1 Steiner LRF 1700 binoculars RRP £1,722 www.steiner-optics.com These binoculars have enhanced three-dimensional depth perception and military-grade toughness. They will quickly become a trusted and practical addition to your hunting arsenal; you can find your target easily with a range out to 1,700 yards in clear focus. 2 Canvas game bag RRP £52.95 www.jackpyke.co.uk Made of heavy cotton canvas with leather straps and piping for added strength and protection, this is a game bag you can rely on. The lining is washable, plus there are two secure buckle fastenings and a nylon netting pouch at the front of the bag. It is available in brown and green. 3 Härkila Dagny women’s waistcoat RRP £139.99 www.ardmoor.co.uk This waistcoat is ideal for dog handling in pre-season training thanks to the large mesh…

If you cannot manage a daily feed, an automatic feeder is a serious consideration. Once upon a time there were many makes, but as far as I can see Solway Feeders is the main supplier of made-up feeders, offering a range of models with different specifications. A quick internet search will also bring up plenty of feeder attachments that you can fit to your own drum and legs too. The idea with these machines is that you set them up at the water’s edge and they spin some grub out into the pond at a preset time each day. You can even get directional spinners to throw the food out over the water but not on the bank. I have used several different sorts over the years, and have had…

“Boar are strong, with powerful shoulders and massive heads, and are surprisingly athletic jumpers” It was a startling encounter. There I was, sitting with my back to an oak, .243 to hand in the hope that a roebuck might venture out of thick cover at the base of a Dorset woodland slope. Without warning, a large black animal emerged from the dense cover below to trot uphill towards me. It was a wild boar. I knew that several animals had escaped from a farm in the area and there had been intermittent sightings for several months, but this was the first genuine wild boar I had seen in this country — and it was quite a shock to the system. A light breeze was blowing towards me and the animal,…

“It must be the smallest shoot in the land yet these few acres, managed with skill, produce remarkable sport” The shooting world has always attracted “characters”. In my time I can think of that remarkable Scottish stalker Lea MacNally, the Lakeland gamekeeper David Imrie, of Fred J. Taylor, of Colin Willock (see Vintage Times, p.46), Pat Cringle and so many more who have contributed with style and flair to Shooting Times. Their knowledge of the countryside and its way of life was truly exceptional. There still is another country character, a man whom I have never met other than through the pages of this and other sporting magazines. A dedicated shooting man, a sporting journalist and the author of more than 100 published books, Guy N. Smith’s name will be…

DOG THEFT, especially of working gundogs, is a puzzling crime. Every year hundreds of gundogs are stolen but no one seems to have much idea what happens to them. In a lifetime of shooting, I’ve never heard rumours of suspicious people offering trained gundogs at a bargain price. So if the people who steal them don’t sell them, what do they do with them? They certainly don’t take them shooting and I can’t believe that there is an export market for them as there is with, for example, high-performance cars. Though we might not know what really happens to them, the fact remains that many are stolen, few are ever recovered and there are equally few convictions made for dog theft. Frustratingly, it isn’t a crime that either the police…

Why the delayed reaction? VINTAGE GUNS Q When shooting a muzzle-loading gun, the time taken for the shot to be fired after the trigger is pulled is much greater in the flintlock than in a modern breechloader, but exactly how much slower is the flintlock? A Anyone who is used to shooting with a modern gun but who has fired a flintlock will have noticed the perceptible delay between the fall of the cock and the ignition of the main charge. This made the taking of a fast crossing shot with a flintlock challenging, but even so, contemporary exponents shot remarkably well with it. In 1889, R. W. S. Griffith undertook some tests to establish exactly what the delay was between the flintlock and a breechloading hammergun. Firing both types…

Latin name: Populus nigra Common name: Black poplar How to spot it and where to find it: This tall deciduous tree — it grows to 30m and can live for 200 years — has a dark-brown bark that appears black, hence the name. In mature trees, the bark is gnarled and burred; twigs are lumpy and totally hairless. The leaves are shiny and heart-shaped, making it easy to distinguish the black poplar from its white cousin, whose leaves are more rounded. They give off a faint scent of balsam. Interesting facts: Black poplar is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers grow on separate trees and are pollinated by the wind. The flowers are catkins, red on male trees and yellow-green on female ones. In Greek mythology Phaeton, the human…

The ringed plover is a smart little wader, traditionally a beach-nester but also taking opportunities offered in areas of short grass, on gravel pits and along rivers. In these latter spots, ringed plovers can be found alongside little ringed plovers, which don’t have orange on the beak but do have a golden eye-ring. The female ringed plover lays a clutch of four eggs in a depression in the sand or shingle, sharing brooding duties with the male for the next three to four weeks. When the sitting parent sees a potential predator approaching, she or he walks away from the nest, returning once the danger has passed. Nests are vulnerable to disturbance and tidal flooding, so it is not unusual for a female to lay three sets of eggs during…

A small, dual-purpose breed, the Shetland was the crofter’s cow, able to supply both milk and beef. The small size reflects the poor, often harsh grazing on the islands, with animals rarely standing more than 110cm at the withers. Though the colours used to range from solid red to dun and even belted, the standard colour is black and white. The distinctive horns are short, curving inwards and slightly upwards. Today the Shetland is a rare breed, classified as at risk by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, yet at the start of the 19th century it is estimated that there were 15,000 pure-bred cattle on the islands. After coming close to extinction, renewed interest in the breed has led to a gradual recovery in numbers, and around 180 pure-bred calves…

The past month has flown by and the arrival of the birds begins to loom. There is still much to be done, with a couple of new release pens to finish and the old ones left to prepare. But getting the game crops in will take priority. Thankfully, late spring has been a slightly warmer and drier time for us and the ground is in prime condition to be worked and later sown. With an ever-growing acreage of crops to be prepared, the ploughing and drilling phase is now handed over to a local contractor. Most agricultural contractors have an array of huge equipment designed to plant vast areas economically, but unfortunately machinery on this scale isn’t much use round our twisting Cumbrian roads, especially when accessing narrow gateways. Having…

Visitors to the Game Fair this year can help a primary school buy a new wheelchair accessible minibus. Boys and girls aged three to 11 with disabilities and learning difficulties who attend Fort Royal school in Worcester are being supported by the Game Fair and its charity partner the Lord’s Taverners, which have pledged £25,000. Delighted headteacher Ed Francis said: “Access to the community is an essential part of our curriculum because children need to see and experience the things that they are learning about. They also need to learn the skills they will need to use their local communities safely, such as awareness of dangers, if they are to become independent adults. Minibuses are vital for this work, but our current fleet of vehicles is getting very old and…

Once upon a time, most farms dressed their own cereals at harvest, riddling out the weed seeds and poorly formed grains for disposal, and storing only the best corn for sale. The thin stuff, or tailings as it was often called, was then fed to the livestock or, if the keeper was lucky, was up for grabs to feed the ducks. Tailings make a wonderful flightpond food, mostly floating on the surface and being easily available to the ducks even over deeper water. As luck would have it, ducks are not so picky as the likes of pheasants or partridges when it comes to food quality, so this poor stuff is just as popular as the best. However, there is one problem. Faced with the question of where to store…

I recently read an article discussing whether therapy dogs enJoy their work, visiting hospitals and cheering up patients. It is something that I’ve never really thought about. Dogs are such cheerful animals that it is easy to assume that anything they do they enJoy, but perhaps the word enJoy is wrong and too anthropomorphic. The therapy-dog research took place in the US, in five different hospitals across the country, with more than 100 patients and 26 dogs — breeds unreported — participating. Apparently the researchers measured the levels of cortisol, a hormone elevated in response to stress, in the dogs’ saliva. The study did find that the dogs were indeed happy in their work, which is encouraging. However, there was a caution added that not all dogs are suited to…

Any day now, my red deer hinds should start producing their first calves. It’s always a magical moment when I scan the field with my binoculars from an upstairs window, shortly after dawn, and spot a mini deer tottering after its tall mother. I have had my small herd of deer for more than 15 years, yet I still find them utterly fascinating to watch at any time. Given the aesthetic quality of deer, you’d have thought that shooting them would be highly controversial. Indeed, the “Bambi syndrome” set the tone for wider anti-hunting sentiment. But no mainstream conservation body objects to the culling of deer with rifles. BBC television presenter Chris Packham, no less, has publicly supported deer management by shooting — and taken some flak from animal rights…